HIKING TO NOTCH PASS
August 2013 - 72 photos
August 2013 - 72 photos
We did another hike up in the Uintas on the 24th of August, 2013. Only 3 of us this time. Me, Cheryl, and Jack. We started out from the Crystal Lake parking lot and trailhead, going west at first on the Lakes Country Trail, then took the Clyde Lake Trail (sign says Cliff Lake), past Cliff Lake, Watson Lake, and up to Clyde Lake. From there we went west past the the Three Divide Lakes. There is no trail going this way, you must be familiar with the area, use a map, or GPS. At the west end of the Divide Lakes we turned north to James Lake, and back east past John Lake and up the ledge into the Notch of Notch Mountain. We came back down along the Notch Mountain Trail making a circle around Wall Lake.
The wide ledge we use to get up to the Notch is by far the best way to hike the Notch. If you are interested in using this ledge, it's a bit hard to find the beginning. You can see two higher ledges plainly, but one doesn't go through and the other ends up too high. The one you want is straight east from the pond east of John Lake. We call it Little John. Stay close to the edge of the mountain and walk east. You will be on the proper ledge within 100 feet.
This is one of the better hikes in the Western Uintas, as it passes about 22 lakes in less than 7 miles. Can't do much better than that. According to my GPS, We hiked 6.7 miles and climbed 627 feet.
The wide ledge we use to get up to the Notch is by far the best way to hike the Notch. If you are interested in using this ledge, it's a bit hard to find the beginning. You can see two higher ledges plainly, but one doesn't go through and the other ends up too high. The one you want is straight east from the pond east of John Lake. We call it Little John. Stay close to the edge of the mountain and walk east. You will be on the proper ledge within 100 feet.
This is one of the better hikes in the Western Uintas, as it passes about 22 lakes in less than 7 miles. Can't do much better than that. According to my GPS, We hiked 6.7 miles and climbed 627 feet.
What surprised me on this hike was how yellow everything is turning. Inside the forest it's still pretty green, but out in the open meadows and around the lakes it's all turning yellow and brown. Also many of the lakes up there are low on water, some even empty.
The weather forecast had mentioned that it might rain about 4:00 PM, and it did. We finished right at 4:00 and as we were getting into the car it hailed then turned to rain. While hiking it did sprinkle lightly a couple of times, but not enough to get wet. It really was a very nice day, and the temperature was in the low to mid 70's. On the way home it rained very hard.
The weather forecast had mentioned that it might rain about 4:00 PM, and it did. We finished right at 4:00 and as we were getting into the car it hailed then turned to rain. While hiking it did sprinkle lightly a couple of times, but not enough to get wet. It really was a very nice day, and the temperature was in the low to mid 70's. On the way home it rained very hard.
I really like this hike, and have hiked parts of it 7 times now. I realize that I am presenting a lot of photos, but it's hard to throw out so many good ones. On each of these hikes we take hundreds more photos than you see presented here.
you can view our photos by clicking on any of the pictures here
or the 'View Photos' button
or the 'View Photos' button
CLICK for GPS map of our hike
To get to the Trial Lake area, take SR 150 from Kamas Utah, or Evanston Wyoming, going towards Mirror Lake. A few miles south of Bald Mountain Pass, and just up hill from Provo Falls, the road makes a large half circle turn. In the middle of this turn is a side road leading to Trial Lake. After turning off SR 150, don't turn right for Trial Lake, but go farther up the hill and take the next right to the parking lot for Crystal Lake Trailhead. The Notch Mountain Trailhead is from the same parking lot. The Clyde Lake trail, marked 'Cliff Lake', starts a little down the Crystal Lake trail, also labeled 'Lakes Country Trail'.
- 72 photos -
to look at these photos
click 'View Photos' button
Related Photos
We have hiked Clyde Lake and Notch Mountain loop often,
so there are many related hike pages included here
Notch Mountain, 2011
Notch Mountain, 2010
Notch Mountain, 2009
Notch Mountain, 2000
Clyde Lake, 2004
Mount Watson, 2005
Notch Mountain, 2014
More Uinta Hikes
My photos were taken with a small Canon Powershot, SX280, 12 Megapixel Camera which has Image Stabilization and a lens going from wide angle to 20x optical zoom. Cheryl's photos were taken with her cellphone, which takes pretty good photos.
These photos are set to lower resolution and compressed 10:1 for faster loading. You are welcome to look at or download any of the photos. If you use them on any other webpage, please give credit and refer back to me.
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To get to the Trial Lake area, take SR 150 from Kamas Utah, or Evanston Wyoming, going towards Mirror Lake. A few miles south of Bald Mountain Pass, and just up hill from Provo Falls, the road makes a large half circle turn. In the middle of this turn is a side road leading to Trial Lake. After turning off SR 150, don't turn right for Trial Lake, but go farther up the hill and take the next right to the parking lot for Crystal Lake Trailhead. The Notch Mountain Trailhead is from the same parking lot. The Clyde Lake trail, marked 'Cliff Lake', starts a little down the Crystal Lake trail, also labeled 'Lakes Country Trail'.
to look at these photos
click 'View Photos' button
Related Photos
We have hiked Clyde Lake and Notch Mountain loop often,
so there are many related hike pages included here
Notch Mountain, 2011
Notch Mountain, 2010
Notch Mountain, 2009
Notch Mountain, 2000
Clyde Lake, 2004
Mount Watson, 2005
Notch Mountain, 2014
More Uinta Hikes
My photos were taken with a small Canon Powershot, SX280, 12 Megapixel Camera which has Image Stabilization and a lens going from wide angle to 20x optical zoom. Cheryl's photos were taken with her cellphone, which takes pretty good photos.
These photos are set to lower resolution and compressed 10:1 for faster loading. You are welcome to look at or download any of the photos. If you use them on any other webpage, please give credit and refer back to me.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
Visitors on site now (
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
)
Total visits
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
We have hiked Clyde Lake and Notch Mountain loop often,
so there are many related hike pages included here
|
Notch Mountain, 2011
|
Notch Mountain, 2010
|
Notch Mountain, 2009
|
|
Notch Mountain, 2000
|
Clyde Lake, 2004
|
Mount Watson, 2005
|
|
Notch Mountain, 2014
|
More Uinta Hikes
|
My photos were taken with a small Canon Powershot, SX280, 12 Megapixel Camera which has Image Stabilization and a lens going from wide angle to 20x optical zoom. Cheryl's photos were taken with her cellphone, which takes pretty good photos.
These photos are set to lower resolution and compressed 10:1 for faster loading. You are welcome to look at or download any of the photos. If you use them on any other webpage, please give credit and refer back to me.
These photos are set to lower resolution and compressed 10:1 for faster loading. You are welcome to look at or download any of the photos. If you use them on any other webpage, please give credit and refer back to me.